The Baltimore Ravens‘ season took a heavy blow Sunday when Lamar Jackson hurt his right thumb on the first offensive snap of their 36-10 loss at Buffalo. It was his first game back after missing three games with a high ankle sprain. Coach Jesse Minter said after that Jackson would need surgery, and he has since been placed on injured reserve, with the possibility that he could miss the rest of this season.
Making matters worse, backup Tyler Huntley is also out for the year with turf toe, which left undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano starting Thursday night in a 33-10 loss to Jacksonville. The team recently traded for Jacoby Brissett to help steady the ship, but Baltimore has now lost four straight and is 4-5 on the year, on pace to miss the playoffs again.
On Friday’s episode of “Get Up,” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said Brissett should settle the Ravens down and keep them competitive, but it’s not enough to make the playoffs, and the bigger story will be with the “uncomfortable” conversations that will come in March.
“There’s an $84 million cap hit. The contract runs through 2027. Lamar’s not going to play on a lame duck contract. He holds all the power with the no-trade clause. Where does it go?” Orlovsky said. “Cause we can sit here and say all we want about, ‘Well, it’s Lamar Jackson. He’s Lamar Jackson. We’re the best.'”
“Does he want to stay in a place where some of us are pointing out a lack of accountability, or the toughness, the identity of the organization, is gone? Or does he want to go finish [his] career somewhere else or take a step somewhere else?” Orlovsky added. “And does the organization sit there and go, ‘Well, no, we want Lamar back. We got to redo this contract coming off of two seasons where there [were] injuries.’ So everything that’s getting said, all of it points to [there being uncomfortable conversations].”
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Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million extension in 2023 that includes a no-trade and no-tag clauses. The contract runs through 2027, and his cap hit that year jumps to $84.34 million, after the Ravens restructured the deal in March to clear up nearly $40 million in cap space this year.
That puts both sides in a tough spot. Baltimore needs to get that number down to build a competitive roster, while Jackson wants security after missing a substantial amount of games due to injury over the last few seasons. The Ravens’ options are therefore either an extension, another restructure of his contract, or a trade, which Jackson would have to approve.
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Trading him before June 1 would leave $74.81 million in dead money, so a post-June 1 move makes more sense. Jackson could also play out the 2027 season and hit free agency, at which point he’ll be 31 years old, since the Ravens can’t tag him.
Jackson is one of the most talented quarterbacks in NFL history, even if availability has held him back from reaching that upper echelon of all-time greats. But if he were to hit the open market, you can bet several teams would be more than willing to invest. With Malik Willis viewed as a one-year bridge, the Miami Dolphins have already been floated as a possible landing spot.